This was the first day of my 5-day trip to the Jirisan area. I visited Jinyangho lake (진양호), and Namsa Yedamcheon, an old village, before getting to my accommodation in Jungsan-ri village.
I got into Jinju bus station then went straight to my SOCAR. I left my suitcase in the car and went to get supplies for my hike up Jirisan the next day. Back in the car, I saw I needed petrol, so got that then got out of the surprisingly busy town. I headed to a nearby the nearby Jinyangho lake to find a place to eat my lovely sandwich I’d brought with me from Seoul! I stopped by a bridge to take some photos, but there wasn’t a decent picnic spot, so I moved on a bit further and found a small pavilion overlooking the lake. I had my sandwich enjoying the views.
I drove on some more to find a cafe. I ended up, by chance, in a lovely old village, called Namsa Yedamchon (남사예담천). It’s like an art and cafe village with some local historical significance. It was nice wandering around and eventually I stopped at a tea house in an old building surrounded by bamboo trees. It was also an art shop (지금이꽃자리). I had a refreshing glass of fruit tea (lemon?). I then walked a bit more along the stream, then by a field of flowers near some old buildings.
I got to my accommodation late afternoon, got checked in. It was the Jirisan Big Tree guesthouse. On the first floor was Jirisan Burger! I was just in time for last orders. There was a nice terrace where I sat with my homemade burger, fries and cold can of Heineken. Bliss! This was needed fuel for tomorrow’s hike.
I drove up a little to the park entrance just to see what to expect tomorrow. Parking is about 5,000 won. I drove back, got some more beer and an early night for tomorrow. Fortunately, there was no one else using the shared room I was staying in.
Places visited on this trip: